En Tois Epouranios #40

By Michael S. Mecikalski

If we believe the “Acts Period” to be the length of 35 years (5 x 7), then Israel was set aside as a nation of blessing in or close to the year A.D. 64 (A.D. 29 was the year of the crucifixion of Our Lord + 35 years of Acts = A.D. 64).

Of extreme interest & importance is the short period of time between the indict-ment of Israel in Acts 28:26-28 and the revealing of musterion truth concerning The Church, The Body of the Fullness of Christ (Eph. 1:17-23). Certainly there were both Jewish and Gentile believers that lived through the Acts Period and beyond. These were the individuals to whom Paul was preaching the perfecting Truth concerning The Church of which Christ is Head. As we have seen in the last two articles, the “favored place” allotted to the Jew during “Acts Times” disappears at the setting aside of the nation of Israel . As a matter of fact, this is the beginning in New Testament history where there is no Jew or Gentile, they are both one in Christ.

And what do we know about the “Gospel of John” at the end of the Acts Period? Has it been written yet? If it had been written already, is the message of John any different then that of Matthew, Mark and Luke? Would it make sense that the Truth contained in the Gospel of John be released or revealed during this complex time?

After knowing the Lord and musterion truth for over 30 years, this writer sincerely believes that the Gospel of John is strikingly different than Matthew, Mark and Luke. Christ as God and Christ as Creator along with God's invitation to salvation for anyone who chooses redemption through the blood of Christ are just a few of the powerful differences found in John. This writer also believes that John was written and its truth revealed very soon after the indictment of Israel (Acts 28:26-28, that is A.D.64). The Gospel of John and its “place” in New Testament chronology and the dispensational application is a huge Scriptural study in itself and must be looked into at a later date.

Historical record lends to the fact that Paul lived no later than 69 or 70 A.D. The Roman leader Titus Caesar leveled Jerusalem in the year 70 A.D. (see Josephus Book VI, Chapter IX). Our Lord foretold that this event would occur (see Matt. 24:1&2). The four, five, or six years from Acts 28 to the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus Caesar could be some of the richest years of enlightenment ever of God's revealed knowledge concerning His plan for the ages in the history of mankind! The author of this article believes that they positively were and these revealed awesome riches have been made known through faithful saints for 19 centuries to this present day

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